2016 schedule

WW

ejjqb wrote:The game was entertaining at times though the Pilots tried to play down to their competition at times.  These gals are fun to watch as they play a high energy game.

One mystery for us is the use of sprinklers before the games this year, sometimes even at halftime.  When we had high temps it made some sense but tonight was not really hot and they soaked the Southern Utah players and staff on the sideline.  It made the field pretty slick for much of the first half.  I have never seen this before this year at Merlo.  Anyone know why the change?

First off, when a team shuts out another 6-0 with subs on the pitch, it might be picking nits to say they played down.
Fairly early in the match UP clearly was concerned with keeping players fresh for St. John's, who tried to win through two overtimes.
With the small squad UP has, that's not a luxury they often have. And they got young players experience.
It was the biggest point spread in the NCAA yesterday.

There are several reasons to water a pitch before games. With Turf(TM) pitches, it often to cool the pitch and to reduce the "grab" turf exhibits. At Providence park, for instance, they water even in cold weather to reduce ACL risk and to cool the pitch.




BYU did a study and found that at 90 degrees, a turf pitch can be 175 degrees if there is no cloud cover.

Grass fields water for slightly different reasons. Though grass can be 20-30 degrees warmer than Air, it's probably not the reason in temperatures below 85.
Ohio State did a study on how grass fields play, and this is what they came up with. UP is a sand base field.

http://buckeyeturf.osu.edu/index.php?option=com_content&id=1093:irrigating-soccer-fields-prior-to-play&Itemid=170

So it has to do with how fast the field plays and how the ball moves and consolidating the sand base for play.Note they didn't water at halftime last night for the second game after the sun went down. There is apparently enough moisture from dew and cooling that it's not necessary.  The pitch will play essentially the same throughout the match

As to the opposing coaches getting soaked, I'm pretty sure they knew what was coming, and the UP end of the pitch  was watered first if they forgot.


When BayernMunich used Merlo as a training pitch for the All Star game, the sprinklers turned on and they just practiced through it.

Thanks, Geez. Always something new to learn from you. Thinking about walking on the beach on dry versus wet sand, it all makes sense. Good to see the Pilots making continuous improvements, which both the men and women's teams are doing as well this year. It's a shame that so many fans are missing out on the opportunity to see them in person, which is always more supportive of the players on the field.

Great win over UC Irvine Anteaters today. A must win.

Now, on to conference play.

Huge weekend coming up, Pepperdine on Friday and Loyola Marymount on Sunday. Let's get out there to support the team!

So... both teams beat Gonzaga this weekend...

I'm still a little puzzled why the last-man takedown from behind in the box wasn't a red card DOGSO violation. The NCAA hasn't switched their rulebook to reflect the FIFA change to making it a yellow.

But no card at all was shown. Had Weatherington missed the PK, overtime would have been even instead of the Zags playing man down.

Geezaldinho wrote:I'm still a little puzzled why the last-man takedown from behind  in the box wasn't a red card DOGSO violation. The NCAA hasn't switched their rulebook to reflect the FIFA change to making it a yellow.

But no card at all was shown. Had Weatherington missed the PK, overtime would have been even instead of the Zags playing man down.

I had that thought, too. I think the ref goofed, maybe assuming the Pilots would make the kick. Of course, that's no excuse.

The old laws are pretty specific about a couple of things to warrant a sending off, notably the direction of player movement (must be directly toward the goal) and the closeness of possession (must have had clear possession, not just the best chance at a potentially loose ball). I didn't see the play, but unless the referee just blew it those seem like the most likely explanations.

SoreKnees wrote:The old laws are pretty specific about a couple of things to warrant a sending off, notably the direction of player movement (must be directly toward the goal) and the closeness of possession (must have had clear possession, not just the best chance at a potentially loose ball). I didn't see the play, but unless the referee just blew it those seem like the most likely explanations.

The foul from behind was at about 8 yards( distance from goal), it was between the posts, it was close to the player's feet, and the direction of play was directly towards goal.

Meets all four of even the old four D's which the old USSF guidelines said had to be present.

The USSF now follows the FIFA guidelines, which only says those elements need be considered as part of the whole, which to me means that one egregious element is enough.

In addition, another element present was that the player who fouled was the last defender excepting the keeper, another element for DOGSO.

( denial of obvious goal scoring opportunity, for those of you not familiar with FIFA acronyms.)

The video is still up on the Gonzaga site here:
http://www.gozags.com/sports/w-soccer/recaps/100816aaa.html

Though inexplicably, it's not on the UP site.

Must speak to the difference between Jesuits and Holy Cross.

Our attendance appears to have really dropped off. From what I am seeing on social media there are maybe 30 people at Merlo for tonight's matchup. And, that honestly really bothers me. I know StudentPilot mentioned its fall break, but where are the rest of the fans?

Meanwhile, my current institution, South Carolina, is the current leader, I believe. Helps that they are ranked so highly. I really enjoy watching their soccer.

SouthCarolinaPilot wrote:Our attendance appears to have really dropped off. From what I am seeing on social media there are maybe 30 people at Merlo for tonight's matchup. And, that honestly really bothers me. I know StudentPilot mentioned its fall break, but where are the rest of the fans?

Meanwhile, my current institution, South Carolina, is the current leader, I believe. Helps that they are ranked so highly. I really enjoy watching their soccer.

There were way more than 30 there -- I being one of them. In fact, attendance is listed as 1439, which probably is paid attendance. I don't want to make a guess of actual bodies but I'd say at least as close to that as to 30. Given the weather early, attendance actually was pretty good. As it turned out once the game started, the weather was fine and it was a great game to watch.

I wasn't expecting any students in attendance considering it is Fall Break, but there were a few over there and the 4 drum squad guys did a fine job representing the missing members. There was even a "Go" "Pilots" back and forth cheer for the first time I can remember this season.

Hopefully there will be a larger crowd for Senior Day tomorrow.

Last year's attendance was a 30% drop from the previous season. And this year's average, to date, is the lowest in 13 years.

Just for reference...

Were you there?

Corrado Kid wrote:Last year's attendance was a 30% drop from the previous season. And this year's average, to date, is the lowest in 13 years.

It's worth keeping in mind that for two years running now, the night games of the first two Fridays of the school year (which typically always get very high attendance, particularly the orientation weekend game that has food trucks and - when the fire marshal allows it - fireworks) have been men's games rather than women's games.

Part of that is due to scheduling quirks, part of that is due to an effort to boost attendance/visibility for the men's program.

It's basically impossible to get the same annual attendance if you have to replace two guaranteed 3-4000+ attendance games (in great weather) with games later in the season in colder, wetter weather and once students are dealing with homework, off-campus "activities" during weekends, and Fall break.

There are other reasons for the decline in attendance, to be sure, but the schedule hasn't helped.

We're honoring 5 seniors today. Are there more than the two spread sheet listed recruits for next year's class that anyone knows of?

Until last season, we had never lost to LMU in 22 years. And now they beat us 3-0 at Merlo.

Well, I was disgruntled before, and I continue to be...

New at UP, but I noticed the banners at Merlo indicating the women's team was once relevant.  

Most of the students I know are excited for men's soccer....I don't hear anyone talking about the women's team.

StudentPilot wrote:New at UP, but I noticed the banners at Merlo indicating the women's team was once relevant.  

Most of the students I know are excited for men's soccer....I don't hear anyone talking about the women's team.

Um... yes, I suppose you could call winning two national titles in 2002 and 2005 being "relevant."

What's old is new again at Merlo Field... for the first dozen years or so the men were the bigger draw, up until the women's first title in 2002. But really it wasn't until the lights came in 2004 that attendance at Merlo *really* took off, which just so happened to coincide with the women's team being incredible (Sinclair, Rapinoe, Lopez, et al) and the men's team taking a dip.

It also happened to be a time when the women's team was incredibly well-connected to the student body, while the men's team developed a reputation for being very insular and snobbish. I was a student during that time, and believe me - the women's team made it a whole lot easier to root for them, both with their success on the field and their treatment of "normal" students.

So I'm *thrilled* that the men's team has turned things around and has revived their once-strong support among the students. That said, I'm hopeful that the women will continue to get support as well... it's one of the things that makes UP special and still gives us a bit of a recruiting edge over other programs.

That's what worries me about the attendance dip. That was such a huge recruiting edge I bet: play at the best facility in college soccer in front of more fans than anyone else (big schools included).

To echo Stonehouse, while I was there, women's soccer was THE sport people cared about (like football is to the SEC). I was so crushed when we lost in the 2010 playoffs to Washington in that penalty shootout. We could have gone all the way. I don't think we have had that level of talent in the field since.

SouthCarolinaPilot wrote:I don't think we have had that level of talent in the field since.

Well, we have had teams since that went as deep or deeper in the tournament.

Nice win tonight against USF. Ellie Boon bodied home a corner from Weatherington in the fourth minute and the Pilots held on the rest of the way in a low shooting game.

USF had one shot on goal.

Former starting midfielder Parkes Kendrick finished sixth overall in the WCC cross-country championship to help the Pilots win their first conference title since 2008.

Corrado Kid wrote:Former starting midfielder Parkes Kendrick finished sixth overall in the WCC cross-country championship to help the Pilots win their first conference title since 2008.

Hope she and the team do well in the NCAA regional.